LPGA: Why Is It a Good Idea to Make the Evian Masters a Major?

The LPGA needs to rearrange its schedule, and it has to do it quick. Commissioner Mike Whan knows that playing three of the four majors in a six-week span drives attention into the summer, which makes ratings hit bottom low before and after the warmer months. But Whan has an ace up his sleeve: the Evian Masters.

According to Golfweek, the France-based tournament will become the tour's fifth major in 2013 and it would be moved from summer to fall, in order to have interesting tourneys along the season and avoid having that one inspired player sweep all the important events in just six weeks, which also means securing the tour's awards.

This is a wise move and, actually, it was just a matter of time before it happened. For starters, the Evian Masters has always had a star-studded field, thanks to a 111-limit roster. Players have considered it the fifth major for quite a bit. Take, for instance, Cristie Kerr's words in 2009: "The area is beautiful, and, I think, that this golf course has the feel of a major championship. So, if it ended up being a major championship, I think everybody would be very happy."

But Kerr isn't the only one who thinks the Evian can become a grand slam tourney. Franck Riboud, Chairman and CEO of the Danone Group and Chairman of the Evian Masters said in 2007, "I know a lot of ladies playing in the top golf saying, 'Yeah, for us, it's our fifth major.'"

There's another factor to considered: the tournament's purse. The Evian Masters offers the highest prize money on tour, along with the U.S Women's Open, at $3.25 million. And it's also the highest-paid event in the Ladies European Tour.

In that tour, this tourney is already a major, along with the Women's British Open. It also has had some of the most committed sponsors in women's golf since its foundation in 1994. Today Evian, Lacoste, Rolex and Société Générale are the primary backers.

The announcement is supposed to be made next week, precisely, at the event's 18th edition.